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The Astros are selling catching prospect Korey Lee to make his main league debut, as was first reported by Mark Berman of Fox 26 (on Twitter). Backup catcher Jason Castro is headed to the 10-day injured record with left knee discomfort. To clear area for Lee on the 40-man roster, lefty reliever Blake Taylor is being transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.
Lee is a former supplemental first-rounder, having been taken thirty second general within the 2019 draft. A Cal-Berkeley product, he hadn’t been seen by many public prospect evaluators as a first-round expertise on the time. Houston’s resolution to nab him early appears sturdy on reflection, as Lee has performed his strategy to the majors rather less than three years later.
The righty-hitting backstop has additionally raised his inventory within the eyes of most evaluators. Every of Baseball America and FanGraphs positioned him among the many sport’s high 100 general prospects heading into the season. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN and Keith Regulation of the Athletic every positioned him simply outdoors their high 100 and ranked him among the many three greatest farmhands within the Houston system.
Throughout the board, these shops instructed Lee may develop right into a succesful #1 catcher at his peak. His carrying device is an arm that garners grades between plus and plus-plus (a 60 or 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale), and he’s typically thought to be a strong or higher general defender. Lee’s bat is extra of a query, as he’s struggled in opposition to higher stage pitching after mashing within the low minors.
The 2022 season has been significantly difficult, as Lee carries solely a .226/.285/.419 line with ten residence runs by means of 270 plate appearances at Triple-A Sugar Land. He’s flashed some energy, with a .194 ISO (slugging proportion minus batting common) that’s north of the league common, however he’s solely walked in 6.7% of his plate appearances in opposition to an elevated 27% strikeout fee.
Given these struggles in opposition to higher minors pitching, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Lee ultimately optioned again to Sugar Land. The Astros have lengthy positioned a premium on protection behind the plate, although, as evidenced by their dedication to the light-hitting Martín Maldonado in recent times. Maldonado will stay the first choice, whereas Lee will take Castro’s spot as his backup whereas the latter is out. Houston would’ve had so as to add Lee to the 40-man roster on the finish of this season anyhow to maintain him from being taken in subsequent winter’s Rule 5 draft.
Taylor, in the meantime, has been out since June 4 with discomfort in his throwing elbow. There’s no clear timetable for his return, and he’ll now be ineligible to pitch within the majors till the primary week of August. Accidents to Taylor and Parker Mushinski have left supervisor Dusty Baker to deal with an all right-handed bullpen at occasions, and it stands to motive the entrance workplace will look into buying a southpaw over the subsequent few weeks.
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